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I just returned from Paris with the Jewish Agency For Israel, an Israeli national agency, to get a firsthand account of what life is like today for the Jews of France. Unfortunately, the new strain of antisemitism and the influx of radical Islamists have made it dangerous for French Jews.

Antisemitism in France today is incredibly high, extremely violent and home-grown. The French organization Service de Protection de la Communaute’ Juive (Jewish Community Security Service) recently published a report titled “Report On Antisemitism In France in 2015.” This Report found that 808 antisemitic acts committed in France in 2015 led to the filing of a complaint. This Report also found that Jews, whose population of approximately 500,000 represents less than 1% of the total French population, were the target in 2015 of 40% of all racist crimes in France and of 49% of racist violent acts.

Synagogues and Jewish schools resemble armed fortresses guarded by French military. Jews are advised not to wear in public any articles or clothing that would identify them as Jews and not to speak Hebrew or use Hebrew words. Some Jews in France are trying to hide their Jewishness for fear of harassment, insults or worse.

I was told repeatedly in Paris that it was dangerous for Jews in France and I should be careful while walking on the streets of Paris. In fact, at the beginning of a private tour of a neighborhood in the northern part of Paris, my Jewish guide checked me to make sure I did not have any articles or clothing that would indicate I was Jewish.

While the French government opposes this virulent antisemitism, life in France today has returned to the life during the 1930’s for Jews in Germany. I met many Jews who are considering whether to leave France or are in the process of leaving France, with many going to Israel (over 20,000 during the period 2012 to 2015 and an estimated 6,000 in 2016).

The question today for French Jews is whether they can live freely as Jews in France.

This toxic situation does not stop with Jews. The French people and their freedoms are also threatened by the changing circumstances in France. I attended meetings where the speakers stated that even non-Jewish French people either are leaving or are thinking about leaving France. They do not feel safe.

What is occurring today in France is utterly impossible to comprehend. France is being transformed.

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Faced with a new Palestinian uprising, Israelis have shelved the idea of a two-state solution—and have found surprising new allies in a disintegrating Middle East

By YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI

Feb. 26, 2016 1:48 p.m. ET

One recent morning, a Palestinian teenager stabbed a security guard at the light rail station minutes from my home in Jerusalem. About an hour later, I drove past the station and was astonished to see—nothing. No increased police presence, not even police barricades. The guard had managed to shoot his attacker, and ambulances had taken both away. Commuters were waiting for the next train. As if nothing unusual had happened.

More in U.S. still favor than oppose establishment of Palestinian state

PRINCETON, N.J. — Americans’ views about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remained steady over the past year, with 62% of Americans saying their sympathies lie more with the Israelis and 15% favoring the Palestinians. About one in four continue to be neutral, including 9% who sympathize with neither side, 3% who sympathize with both, and 11% expressing no opinion.

Americans have consistently shown more support for Israel than for the Palestinians over the past 15 years. However, sympathy for Israel increased in 2006 to 59%, from 52% the year before, in a Gallup poll conducted shortly after the January 2006 Palestinian elections in which Hamas — which the U.S. government has classified as a terrorist group — won the majority of parliamentary seats. Support for Israel has since remained at 58% or higher.

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Second Jewish congregation hit by anti-Semitic graffiti in San Antonio

By Mark D. Wilson Updated 2:44 pm, Monday, August 17, 2015

Grafitti on the side of a shed Monday August 17, 2015 at Cogregation Agudas Achim on the 16,000 block of Huebner appears to read “Jews Jew.” The area near Congregation Rodfei Sholom on Northwest Military Highway was recently defaced with racist garfitti.

SAN ANTONIO — A second Jewish congregation uncovered anti-Semitic graffiti on its property Monday morning just days after the discovery of swastikas, racial slurs and widespread vandalism rocked a neighboring Jewish community.

Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham said the graffiti was found on a storage shed near the back of the Congregation Agudas Achim property, located at 16550 Huebner Road, less than three miles away from Rodfei Sholom.

Linda Moad, executive director of the Agudas Achim congregation, said a maintenance worker had gone to the shed around 10 a.m. and found two grills missing, along with the words “Jew Jew” sprayed onto the structure.

“I was already disgusted by what happened at Rodfei Sholom last week,” Abraham said. “This hits a little closer to home because it’s at my synagogue. I am just saddened that people would stoop to this level to try to break our community.”

The synagogue, founded in 1889, serves about 550 families on San Antonio’s North Side. Abraham said Agudas Achim is the second-largest congregation in the city, behind Temple Beth-El.

Governor Greg Abbott called the vandalism an “offensive and disturbing attack on people of all faiths” in a Monday statement.

Members of the congregation made the discovery at the same time the San Antonio Police Department, FBI, Crime Stoppers, and local elected officials came together to announce an award of $11,500 for information leading to the Rodfei Sholom vandals.

“We’re very sad that this would happen so soon after the incident at Rodfei Sholom,” said Judy Lackritz, community relations director of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio. “We appreciate that law enforcement are taking it seriously in both cases. We are so heartened at the outpouring of support we have received throughout the city from all different religious groups.”

Funds raised by District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg combined with cash from state Sen. Jose Menendez, the FBI and San Antonio Crime Stoppers pushed the total potential reward up from $5,000.

SAPD interim Chief Anthony Treviño said investigators are working around the clock to track down suspects in the “act of ignorance” at Congregation Rodfei Sholom, located near Northwest Military Drive and Huebner Road.

Last week, the FBI said it had identified a person of interest who lives near the community, but on Monday, in response to a question regarding that individual, police said no arrests have been made and that they are pursuing multiple suspects.

Rabbi Arnold Scheinberg again emphasized the amount of love and support the congregation has received since numerous cars, homes, monuments and signs in his community were plastered with hateful symbols including swastikas and “KKK” lettering.

“Our congregation experienced a hate crime, but our community experienced love and support from every facet of our community,” he said, adding the congregation saw overwhelming attendance on the last Sabbath.
Scheinberg said security at the synagogue has been beefed up, though he said he could not comment on specifics.

“Our citizens feel alert, but safe,” he said. “They feel that they are surrounded by love of this community.”

The San Antonio Police Department confirmed that officers were dispatched to the synagogue Monday morning for a burglary, but declined to release any additional details.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is acting properly in lobbying against the Iran deal. And President Obama is acting improperly in accusing him of interfering in American foreign policy and suggesting that no other foreign leader has ever tried to do so: “I do not recall a similar example.”

President Obama is as wrong about American history as he is about policy. Many foreign leaders have tried to influence US foreign policy when their national interests are involved. Lafayette tried to get the United States involved in the French Revolution, as the early colonists sought support from France in their own revolution. Winston Churchill appeared in front of Congress and lobbied heavily to have America change its isolationist policy during the run up to the Second World War. Nor can President Obama claim ignorance about recent events, when he himself sent David Cameron, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, to lobby Congress in favor of the Iran deal. Recently, Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, lobbied us with regard to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s nation has a far greater stake in the Iran deal than most of the countries that negotiated it. But Israel was excluded from the negotiations. Any leader of Israel would and should try to exercise whatever influence he might have in the ongoing debate over the deal.

There can be no question that Israel is the primary intended target of Iran’s quest for a nuclear arsenal. Recall that Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president of Iran, has described Israel as a one-bomb state that could be destroyed instantaneously, and that even if Israel retaliated, it would not destroy Iran or Islam. No similar threats have been made against Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia or China. Although the United States is still regarded by Iran as the “Great Satan”, the U.S. has less to fear from an Iranian nuclear arsenal than does Israel.

Does President Obama really believe that Israeli leaders are required to remain silent and simply accept the consequences of a deal that puts its population at risk? As Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly said, Israel is not Czechoslovakia. In 1938, Czechoslovakia too was excluded from the negotiations that led to its dismemberment, but it had no ability to influence the policies of the negotiating nations. Nor did it have the ability to defend itself militarily, as Israel does.

The United States would surely not accept a deal negotiated by other nations that put its citizens at risk. No American leader would remain silent in the face of such a deal. Israel has every right to express its concern about a deal that has crossed not only its own red lines, but the red lines originally proposed by President Obama.

President Obama’s attack on Prime Minister Netanyahu, for doing exactly what he would be doing if the shoe were on the other foot, has encouraged Israel-bashers to accuse opponents of the deal of dual loyalty. Nothing could be further from the truth. I and the deal’s other opponents are as loyal to our country as is President Obama and the supporters of the deal. I am a liberal Democrat who opposed the invasion of Iraq and who twice supported President Obama when he ran for president. Many of the deal’s strongest opponents also cannot be accused of being warmongers, because we believe that the deal actually increases the likelihood of war.

The President should stop attacking both the domestic and international critics of the deal and engage us on the merits. That is why I have issued a challenge to the Obama Administration to debate its critics on national television. This is a wonderful occasion for Lincoln-Douglas type debates over this important foreign policy issue. At this point in time, the majority of Americans are against the deal, as are the majority of both Houses of Congress. The President has the burden of changing the public’s mind. This is, after all, a democracy. And the President should not be empowered to impose his will on the American public based on one-third plus one of one house of Congress, when a majority of Americans have expressed opposition. So let the name-calling stop and let the debates begin.

Alan Dershowitz is a lawyer, constitutional scholar, commentator and author. His new book is The Case Against the Iran Deal: How Can We Now Stop Iran From Getting Nukes? (Rosetta Books, August 11, 2015).